Ogletree Deakins' Traditional Labor Relations Practice Group is pleased to announce the publication of the spring 2019 issue of the Practical NLRB Advisor. This edition provides a close look at the development of the independent-contractor standard at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The NLRB's recent decision on this issue—one of the most critical legal questions of the day, both in the context of traditional labor law and in employment law generally—marks yet another significant reversal of Obama-era NLRB decisional law. The ruling is decidedly favorable to businesses, particularly those in the growing gig economy, and to other companies with business models that rely on the services of independent entrepreneurs.
This issue of the Practical NLRB Advisor also discusses the status of the Board's proposed joint-employer rule, now that the comment deadline has passed. Under the Board's proposal, an employer may be considered the joint employer of a separate entity's employees only if the two employers share or codetermine the employees' essential terms and conditions of employment. As so often seems the case of late in NLRB matters, even the seemingly non-political comment review process was not without controversy.
Finally, this issue covers recent NLRB developments addressing the duties of labor unions to member and non-member workers within bargaining units and analyzes the latest decisions at the NLRB.
As this issue of the Practical NLRB Advisor details, despite the roadblocks, criticisms, and expansive rulemaking agenda, the current Board may yet fulfil its expectations if it can summon up the time and resources to complete the extensive rulemaking agenda described in this issue and also push out reversals in some Obama-Board marquee cases. One thing is sure—it promises to be a busy summer and fall at the agency.
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